A Big Test of Police Body Cameras Defies Expectations

Usually, we behave better when we know we’re being watched. According to decades of research, the presence of other people, cameras or even just a picture of eyes seems to nudge us toward civility: We become more likely to give to charity, for example, and less likely to speed, steal or take more than our fair share of candy.

But what happens when the cameras are on the chests of police officers? The results of the largest, most rigorous study of police body cameras in the United States came out Friday morning, and they are surprising both police officers and researchers.

A new report challenges the perception that eyewitness memory is inherently fallible, finding that eyewitness confidence can indicate the accuracy of identifications made under “pristine” conditions… More